The stench of blood and death hung heavily in the air and dead bodies littered the battlefield, so many that it would be hard not to step on some of the organs spilling out.

Lancer was present. He stood among the sea of corpses. The knight had a few swords piercing his back and blood streaming from several wounds all over his body, but continued to stand as if they weren't even there. At least, it was assumed it was his blood. So much was splattered on him that it was honestly a little hard to tell. His level of killing intent was outrageous. It was thick enough to make it seems like it would be impossible for anyone else to breathe. His shoulders shook as he laughed. "Bring it, ya bastards!" the demigod shouted. He had the craziest look in his eyes the King had ever seen, a look from a ravenous beast. A bloodthirsty grin was on his face, fang-like canines glinting in the sun.

Some people were slowly backing away, murmuring something about "he's Ulster's monster!" before turning tail and running away as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Lancer didn't pursue. If they were running, then they were probably too weak.

A soldier came up to Lancer while riding a horse. "An order from King Conchobar. The enemy is retreatin'. All Red Branch Knights are to fall back."

The demigod's face instantly dropped. The sickening level his killing intent was at suddenly vanished without warning. The fact the man was able to approach this deranged wolf without throwing up is incredible. Was he used to it? "Che, I think Uncle just enjoys ruinin' my fun." His voice was suddenly full of irritation.

The soldier chuckled. "But ya follow his orders regardless."

The beast just sighed. "He holds power over me, so I will. Even if some of 'em suck ass."

The soldier scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah. Let's head back so ya can get patched up. Don't wanna keep the wife waitin' too long."

Mikoto sat up in bed, yawning. "What a weird dream. Why'd I have it?" He moved a hand under his shirt and scratched his stomach. He could hear faint chatter coming from the bar. The others are already here? The hell time is it?

After showering and getting dressed, the King went down to the bar. Lancer sensed his Master approach before he even appeared.

He paused his conversation with Saburouta to shoot his Master a grin and wave. "Mornin'!"

It only lasted less than a second, but when Mikoto looked at Lancer, he only saw the man covered in blood, looking like he was caught in a rain of the red substance, and a dark grin was on his lips as he tore into his opponents without mercy, even when the victims begged for their lives. He may be easy to get along with but there was another side to him. That of some kind of monster.

"It's almost noon," Izumo pointed out. "Why'd ya sleep so late?"

"Another bad dream?" Tatara asked.

"No idea. But somethin' tells me I know the cause. Lancer!"

"Hm? What's up?"

"Over here. I need to ask ya somethin'."

"What is it?" The Servant asked as came over. This casual attitude of his, no way the demonic person the King saw was actually him.

"I dreamt of ya on the battlefield. You were wounded, yet still was up for more killin'. And, to put it bluntly, ya looked like a monster. What was that about? I don't think you've ever put that image of you into my head."

"That was a part of my past. Most heroes walk a path stained with blood and I'm certainly no different."

"But why did I see it?"

"Our pact connects us mentally. As such, we can dream about each other's past."

"So you're a monster when you fight?" Rikio asked.

"I was likened to a demon of the battlefield or a hound of war durin' my first life. We Celts are a warrior people, see, so we live for battle. However, I was probably an extreme case even among them. We end up with a shit ton of blood on our hands. And I wouldn't have it any other way." He said it as if it was totally normal.

Misaki looked warily at Lancer. "And you won't kill us if ya, say, get bored?"

The spirit grinned. "And why would I kill my own companions?"

There was a unison of "What?!" from the Clansmen. They had assumed Lancer saw only his Master, Mikoto, that way.

"Wait, you see us as your companions?!" Eric asked.

"Of course! I'm a Servant of the Red Clan, so it's members are all my allies!"

Sukuna stretched his arms, yawning loudly as he and the Grey King walked to the room replica. "I'm still tired! I can't believe how hard we partied!" The Green Clan had a feast last night to celebrate the summoning of the two Servants.

"I thought you slept with Yukari last night. Where is he?" Tenkei asked. Sukuna had been the first to fall asleep and Yukari, about to fall asleep as well, took the boy to his own room.

"He's busy applying skin care products."

"Now?!"

"He apparently forgot last night."

In the house, the two Servants seemed to appear out of thin air.

Rider raised one hand in greeting. "Good morning!"

Saber was tapping one foot impatiently. "Your Master's here, but where the hell's mine?!"

Sukuna sweatdropped. "You two...Did you two seriously stay up all night?"

"No." Tenkei pointed at Rider. "This guy sat by my bed and quickly began sawing logs. By the time I got up this morning, he was gone." Soon after helping Nagare to bed, Tenkei had passed out drunk and Rider carried the King to bed. He had soon fallen asleep and managed to wake the drunkard up, and the Master stayed awake for about an hour. He had already taken hangover pills for his massive headache.

Sukuna snickered. "A loud snorer? Sounds like how a certain someone else sleeps."

Tenkei didn't seem to care about the opinion. "I am what I am."

"Servants don't need to sleep. Which means," Saber jabbed a finger at Rider, "this guy annoyed you for no reason!"

It was at that time Yukari strolled in. He was wearing an avocado face mask. "Looks like everyone's here except Nagare. Where is he?"

"Did he get that electric wheelchair of his stuck?!" Saber growled.

"You helped him into it, right?" the Grey King asked slowly.

"Oh."

Tenkei sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unbelievable...Have you forgotten he's in a straightjacket? Even though his powers allow him to move his wheelchair, he still needs help getting out of bed."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get him." With that, Saber went into spirit form.

"That woman...You'd think she'd take better care of her own Master..." the man in priest's clothing muttered.

A few minutes later, Saber materialized in a dust of blue mana. "Have you guys seen the creepy way Master wakes up?! It's like watchin' a robot turn on! Would it kill him to wake up a little more...naturally?"

"I've helped him out of bed before," Tenkei said. "And so has Yukari."

Nagare rolled into the room. "Saber, can you place your hands on me?"

"Uh, sure Master." The knight walked over and placed her hands on the King's shoulders. "So, care to tell me what the hell's this about?"

"I did not have time to savor it when you got me into my wheelchair, but you have body heat. You're technically dead, so I was under the impression that you would feel cold."

Saber's face went red and she quickly pulled her hands back. "St-stop saying embarrassing things..."

Nagare looked confused. "Huh? I don't recall intending to embarrass you."

Kotosaka was flying circles. "A tsundere! She's a tsundere!"

"How the hell does he even know what that is?!"

Tenkei was the one to respond. "I read him some manga."

"Why would you even do that?!"

"Come on! I'm sure you've picked up on the fact he's smarter than he looks!"

"Mr. Iwa, we're scheduled to meet Ruler at the church in a couple hours."

Tenkei opened a can of beer. "Fine."

"And try to be sober for then."

When Lancer went into the bar, it was lunchtime. Anna stopped eating and looked up. "Lancer, why don't you try this?" She broke off the untouched end of whatever she was eating ant offered it to the warrior. "Here's a bit."

Lancer took the offered food. "Thanks." He stuck it in his mouth and chewed before swallowing. "It's tasty. What is it?"

"It's called a hotdog."

Lancer's eyes instantly went wide and his face went deathly white.

Tatara noticed this. "Is something wrong?"

"...WHAT DID SHE JUST FEED ME?!" He gagged - was he going to vomit?! - and backed away to the wall at lightning speeds while looking totally freaked out. He was being stared at by everyone.

Shouhei just blinked, confused. "...What is it?"

Lancer still had his fight-or-flight response set to 'flight'. "I can't believe I just ate dog meat!"

Izumo gave Lancer a weird look. "Hah? Dog meat? What're ya talkin' about?"

"The fuckin' hotdog! That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Yeah, I know. But why do ya think ya just ate dog meat?"

"'cause I just did! It's in the damn name!"

Kousuke spoke up. "...It's not made from dogs."

Lancer seemed to have calmed down, but now he just looked as confused as everyone else. "Huh? It's not? Then what's in it?"

"It's pig meat," Mikoto answered. "Now why did ya freak out when ya thought ya ate dog meat?"

Anna had just glimpsed Lancer's mind. "One of your geasa forbids you from consuming the meat of a dog."

"Geasa? The hell's that?" Misaki asked.

Lancer pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed angrily. "That food's name really shouldn't be so misleadin'...Geasa is plural for geas, which is a curse that binds your soul. Having one can strengthen ya, but you'll suffer a severe punishment if ya break it. I have several."

"Oh," Izumo said. "Are there any other foods ya can't eat?"

"Dog meat aside, I don't have any restrictions to my diet."

Saber looked at Tenkei. "Hey, can ya toss me a beer?"

Tenkei narrowed his eyes at the Servant. "...Are you even old enough?"

"Of course I am, dumbass! I'm 23!"

Kotosaka cackled. "You got called a dumbass! Dumbass old man!"

Tenkei instantly snapped his glare to the parrot. "Shut up before I serve you as tonight's dinner!" Kotosaka shrunk down, snapping his beak shut. Then the King directed his attention to Saber. "And you! I don't care if you're a Knight Class Servant, you need to show some respect to your elders! No beer for you!"

"Are you serious?!"

Tenkei cracked open his own can of beer. "Of course I am!"

It was then Yukari and Sukuna walked in, holding several shopping bags.

"We're back!" Yukari suddenly fell silent when he sensed the tension in the air. "...What's going on?"

Saber had her arms crossed and looked like she was pouting. "The old man's being stingy."

"What are you gonna do, stage a rebellion like in Camelot?"

"Did you look up my legend?"

"Yeah. Even if you aren't my Servant, I'm still dealing with you on a daily basis."

Sukuna set his bags down on the table. The kid was trying to stay out of this feud. "We got the clothes for both Servants. Saber's were easy enough, but we actually had to create a mission for people to find a store that sells XXXL clothes."

"The selection wasn't that great," Yukari added. "We got him a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt."

"What about for me?" Saber asked.

Yukari grinned. "I think you'll like it a lot. It allows for ease of movement without looking unusual."

The knight's eyes sparkled. "Really?! I'm gonna hurry and try it on!" She grabbed the bag with her clothes and dashed out of the room like a kid with a new toy.

Rider grabbed the bag with his clothes. "I'll try mine on as well. Hopefully they fit."

"I hope so too," Sukuna agreed. "You have no idea how long it took to hunt those down!"

Reisi was discussing ideas with his Servant in his office.

"We could capture the enemies instead of killing them. That way, we won't have to unnecessarily dirty our hands and we can still win the Grail War."

Chiron's horse tail flicked, lifting the bottom of his SCEPTER 4 jacket a little. "Capturing a Servant is next to impossible. Even should you manage to restrain one, you'll be faced with the issue of how to keep it in containment. The Servant can go into spirit form, which would cause it to be freed of any bindings, even ones to dampen supernatural powers. This is because it's actually from our physiology as spirits. And if, for example, it was kept in one of your prison cells, it could phase through a wall to get free."

Reisi settled his chin in his hands. "You Servants possess troublesome abilities."

"I can't exactly disagree with you there."

The King let out a large sigh before leaning back in his chair. "I have some paperwork to take care of. Feel free to explore HQ."

Archer bowed. "As you wish."

Outside, Archer noticed Saruhiko Fushimi, SCEPTER 4's no. 3 talking to another member.

"...Place him in cell 6."

The member saluted before heading off to carry out the order.

"Hello, Mr. Fushimi."

Saruhiko looked to see who the speaker is. "Oh, it's you, Archer. What do you want?"

"I just came to see how you're doing. Fine, I hope." Archer noticed Saruhiko staring at him intently. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't get you."

"Hm?"

"You're more powerful than even our King, yet you don't look down on anyone. In fact, you treat everyone as your equal."

"You people deserve respect for attempting to keep the peace."

Saruhiko shook his head and walked away. "You're so weird..."

Akira Hidaka, a member of the Special Squad, ran up to the centaur soon after Saruhiko went away. This was his day off, so he was wearing his street clothes. "Archer! I was planning on having a get-together in a room of the mens' dorm tonight after dinner with the rest of the Special Squad! You in?"

"Well, that depends if Master needs me for anything."

"That reminds me! Don't tell the Captain or Lieutenant."

"Why?"

"Trust me, just don't."

Archer was confused. Why can't those two be present?

Mikoto and Lancer stood before a white building. "The church?" Mikoto asked. "Why we here?"

"I scheduled a meeting with Ruler near evening so you can meet her and ask her things about the Grail War I probably don't know," Lancer replied.

"Then let's get this over with." The redhead began walking to the front doors. "Hm?" Mikoto just noticed that his Servant wasn't following. "Don't wanna go in?"

"It's not that. We Servants aren't allowed in the church. I'll just wait out here for ya."

The King huffed. "I think it's a stupid rule, but whatever."

Mikoto entered the building and saw a single woman standing in the center aisle. "Are ya Ruler?"

The woman nodded. "You must be the Red King, Mikoto Suoh. My True Name is Jeanne d'Arc. I exist to watch over the Grail War. I sense your Servant is outside. Good. He's aware that this is a neutral area and that I'm the only Servant allowed in here."

"So ya know a lot about the Grail War?"

"Yes. and you should know that unending despair is all that awaits the survivors."

"Why are ya guys tryin' to make it sound depressin'?"

"Because it is. Not only should you brace yourself for physical horrors, but also psychological ones."

"Whatever. I can handle it. So about the War..?"

"Seven Master-Servant pairs will fight to the death in Tokyo for the Holy Grail, which can grant any wish. This is known as the Holy Grail War."

"I already know all that."

This one is being quite rude. She supposes she should have expected it from one who looks like a thug. She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. "The seven Servants are Saber, Lancer, Archer, Caster, Assassin, Rider, and Berserker. Every other Master suspects the seven Kings are Masters and you probably do as well. This is correct."

"So who's your Master if ya ain't one of the seven?"

"I'm a Servant able to exist without a Master due to me being a neutral party. As such, I can only oversee the series of battles and fight only when needed to enforce the rules of the War or if an emergency arises."

"There's one thing I don't get. If only Servants can touch the Holy Grail, then why do we need to kill the Masters?"

The holy maiden was looking right into Mikoto's eyes. "Are you capable of killing your Servant?"

Mikoto was silent. He never actually thought of it. Would he be able to take down his own Servant? Lancer's supposed to be more powerful than he is, so probably not likely.

Ruler continued. "Servants are hard to kill, even with another Servant. But they rely on their Masters to exist. If the Master dies, the Servant will die shortly after. They must hurry to find a partnerless Master before then. That's another reason Masters need to be killed, to prevent competition from reentering the War."

That must be what Lancer meant when he said "Your fate shall be my fate".

"Is there anything else?"

"I can't think of anything."

"Well, if you do, contact me."

Mikoto walked out of the church. "Lancer! Where'dja go?!"

"Up here!"

The King looked up. The Servant was relaxing on the roof. "The hell ya up there for?"

"'cause I can."

"Whatever. Come on. Let's go back to the bar."

His feet hit the ground as if he had only jumped down a meter instead of two stories. Did he adjust his internal gravity at the last second or are Servants incapable of hitting the ground hard?

While walking along the sidewalk, the King noticed they were attracting some stares. Mikoto could imagine how strange they must look: two gangster-looking young men, one with bright red hair and the other with bright blue hair.

Some dogs were about to pass them. Mikoto sighed. He knew what was coming next. However, the dogs didn't go into a subservient pose as soon as they got close to Mikoto. They instead seemed to ignore the King and swarmed around Lancer. He grinned and sat on his heels, letting the dogs sniff him. The owners were trying to call their dogs back, but to no avail. Lancer was petting them on the head. It's hard to imagine someone this friendly as some kind of demon.

Lancer then whispered something to the dogs that made them turn and go back to their owners. There was silence for a few moments before Mikoto broke it. "The hell was that?"

"Hm? Whatcha mean?"

"Why were ya super popular with the dogs? They go on their backs if I'm near."

"I have a high compatibility with animals, higher with canines. It probably exceeded the influence ya put on 'em due to your aura."

"For some reason, I'm not surprised."

"Whaddaya mean by that?"

"If I toldja, you'd get angry." Mikoto took out his pack of cigarettes. He was feeling the urge to smoke. He was about to put a stick in his mouth when Lancer spoke up.

"Hey, can I try one of those?"

The King just stared at the Servant. "Ya sure?"

"I won't be in this world that long. I may as well try as much from the modern era that I can."

"Fine." Mikoto bumped up another cigarette, moving the pack over to the knight.

He grabbed the offered cigarette. "Thanks." While Mikoto was putting the pack back in his coat pocket, Lancer put the white stick in his mouth and conjured a small flame on his left index finger.

Mikoto pulled out his lighter. He knows he can light his cigarette using his fire, but it felt comforting not to have to use his power, even for something small like this. He lit his cigarette and was going to light Lancer's, but was surprised to see the Servant's already lit.

"Ya use fire?"

Lancer didn't answer right away. He coughed harshly as he took his first-ever drag of a cigarette. He recovered and tried again, not coughing this time and exhaled smoke. "That and other elements. Ya probably saw from my Personal Skills that I have Rune Magecraft. I have all 18 runes mastered. Different combinations produce different results. The one I used is a fire rune called Ansuz. I can lessen the power of the Ansuz rune by puttin' less magical energy into it."

"Given the name of your class, I thought you were only able to use a spear."

"I'm not a Double Summon, but I'm skilled at magecraft. Lotsa us are good at multiple areas of combat. That's not to say we're masters. Our class container prevents that by lowerin' the level of 'unnecessary' skills. But I have combat talents that allow me to be summoned as a Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, or Berserker. And don't expect to see runes from me that often durin' fights. I find it's 100 times faster to stab someone to death."

Adolf walked into his apartment room. It had been a long day. He was looking forward to just relaxing.

He froze at the sight that awaited him. Neko was on all fours, arching her back and hissing at Caster like a cat. The Servant was sitting on the other side of the room with her bushy tail over her lap. Amber eyes were narrowed into slits.

"You're the wife?! Over my dead body!"

The fox whipped out a spell tag while snarling at the Strain. Her fox ears were flattened on her head. "I can arrange that."

Adolf had no idea how this started, but it was going to get ugly unless he does something. "Just break it up!"

Both girls looked at him, shocked. They didn't know the King had entered the room. Neko sat down and the seal Caster held dematerialized in a flash of violet. "Sorry..." they mumbled.

The man ran a hand through his hair. "Can someone explain to me how this even started?"

Neko pointed an accusing finger at Caster. "She wants to steal my position!"

Caster returned to glaring at Neko. "All I said was that I'm going to be Master's Good Wife and you got hissy at me."

"I'm the only one allowed to be that close to him! You just focus on being his bodyguard!"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!"

"But it's only natural since I've been with Addie longer!"

"Like I care!"

The two animal-like girls resumed the stances they took before the Silver King had broken them up. Adolf sighed in defeat.

"Come on...I'm paying for this room..."

It was night and Akira was leading Archer to a slightly open door of the dorm. "The Captain doesn't check this location, so we should be safe." Inside the room were the other seven members of the Special Squad sitting around a table. "Guys, I've brought Archer!"

Archer was looking around. "I don't see Mr. Fushimi."

"Mr. Fushimi refused to come -"

"I recall him telling you to jump off a cliff," Andy Doumyouji broke in. "I think it's time you gave up on him."

Tatsuya Enomoto sighed. "Seriously, Hidaka. Has he ever come once?"

Akira just grinned. "There's a first time for everything!"

"Whatever. The Captain and lieutenant aren't here, right?" Himori Akiyama asked.

"I didn't tell them." Archer sat down at the head of the table. "So why do none of you want to have the Blue King or Ms. Awashima here?"

"The lieutenant always bring a ton of anko and expects us to finish it all," Ren Gotou replied.

"And the Captain's obessed with having us do these 'team-building exercises '," Daiki Fuse added. "I mean, come on! We already work well enough together! He doesn't need to torture us!"

Ryuuhou Kamo had his gaze fixed on Archer. "You're a centaur. So why is the only non-human part of you your horse tail?"

Andy jumped to a standing position. "You have a horse tail?! I didn't notice it yesterday! Can I see it?!"

Yuujirou Benzai covered his ears. "Doumyouji, that was right in my ear..."

Himori sighed. "Try to remember to use your indoor voice, Doumyouji."

"Did someone give him too much sugar?" Daiki was staring right at Ryuuhou when he said that.

"Don't look at me! I had nothing to do with this!"

Tatsuya sighed. "He's just too excitable."

Archer chuckled. "Mr. Doumyouji, you may see it if you'd like." He stood up and puched aside the back end of his SCEPTER 4 jacket.

Andy had stars glittering in his eyes. "Thank you so much!" He dashed over behind the Servant and let his eyes wander over the horse tail. Then the ginger let out a noise.

Akira sweatdropped. "Doumyouji, did you just...squee?"

Ren's expression mirrored Akira's. "I...I think he did..."

Akira rubbed the back of his neck. "To think he used to be Squad 4's commander."

Ryuuhou sighed. "Doumyouji, you're staring too long. What have I told you about that?"

Andy looked embarrassed. "Oh..." He backed up to return to where he was sitting. "Sorry..."

Archer smiled at him. "It's fine."

Yuujirou was looking at Archer. "So why are you taking this form?"

"It's to hide my True Name," the man replied. "There are very few centaur Heroic Spirits. Seeing me as one would give out my identity. This form lowers my parameters, but make it harder to guess my True Name."

"Interesting. What's going on?"

Every Special Squad member simultaneously froze up.

"Ca-Captain! What are you doing here?!" Daiki exclaimed.

Reisi adjusted his glasses. "Archer had not returned for quite some time. I utilized the connection we have through our pact to locate him."

Archer looked a little embarrassed. "Oh, yeah...I forgot to mention that pacted Master-Servant pairs can sense the location of their partner..." He turned to look at Reisi. "How did you find that out? I don't recall mentioning it."

"I saw Ruler this afternoon. She told me."

There was a bang. Everyone saw that Andy had just slammed his forehead onto the surface of the table. "I suddenly hate Master-Servant pacts..."

Tatara: Do you have a monster you're fighting with?

Cú Chulainn: That bird. It's monitorin' us.

Tenkei: Our first fight! A good sample of the Holy Grail War!

Nagare: I wish to issue a challenge. You'll be awaited at the Shizume cargo pier tonight.

Kuroh: Will you stop trying to murder me when he's not looking?!

Yõ: You might get badly hurt!

Mikoto: It's a King and a Servant. You'll be obliterated in no time.

Iskandar: I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors!

Cú Chulainn: You may be a King, but you're just a mere human!

Next chapter: The First Battle